Update (9:15 PM EDT): Added 6.2 notes update

WoW Down to 7.1 Million Subscribers
Blizzard had their Q1 2015 earnings call today, announcing that WoW is down to 7.1 million subscribers at the end of Q1 2015. This is down 2.9 million from the Q4 2014 call that listed WoW at 10 million subscribers. This appears to be the largest drop in subscriber count in the history of the game.

  • Tokens are not included in this timeframe, as they launched in Q2.
  • World of Warcraft’s revenue performance at constant FX has been more stable, driven by continued strong uptake on value added services, and price increases in select regions, which partially offset subscriber declines, particularly in the East.
  • Heroes of the Storm had over 11 million beta sign-ups.
  • Hearthstone is now at 30 million players, up from 25 million last quarter.

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Patch 6.2 PTR Notes Update - May 6
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
General Changes

Garrisons, Followers, and Outposts
Garrison Buildings
  • Mine
    • Mineral nodes should now only be displayed on the mini-map when a character is inside the mine. Characters with Track Minerals active will continue to see mineral nodes from outside the Mine.

Raids and Dungeons
Raids
  • Bonus Roll Changes
    • Seal of Tempered Fate can now be purchased from the Fate-Twisters for gold and no longer has a cap on how many can be obtained per week. Additionally, characters can now hold up to a maximum of 20 Seals of Tempered Fate (up from 10).

Classes

Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Blood
  • Mastery: Blood Shield's Physical damage absorption shield from Death Strike now also counts as having an active mitigation effect active.
Talents
  • Breath of Sindragosa now costs 20 Runic Power per second for Blood Death Knights.

Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
General
  • Tranquilizing Shot has switched functionality with Glyph of Tranquilizing Shot. Tranquilizing Shot no longer costs Focus but has a 10-second cooldown.
Glyphs
  • Glyph of Tranquilizing Shot has switched functionality with Tranquilizing Shot. Glyph of Tranquilizing Shot causes Tranquilizing Shot to cost 40 Focus instead of a 10-second cooldown.

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Talents
  • Flameglow now absorbs up to a maximum of 20% damage from each attack (down from 30%).
Armor Sets
  • Tier-17 2-piece set bonus for Fire Mages has been redesigned. It now reduces the cooldown of Inferno Blast by 2 seconds.

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
General
  • Cloak of Shadows now has a 90-second cooldown (up from 60 seconds).

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Armor Sets
  • Tier 17 4-piece set bonus for Restoration Shaman now reduces the mana cost of Chain Heal by 50% for 8 seconds (down from 75% reduction for 10 seconds).

Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Armor Sets
  • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Destruction Warlocks has been redesigned. It now causes Incinerate to deal 25% more damage on targets affected by the Warlock's Immolate.

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Armor Sets
  • Tier-17 4-piece set bonus for Arms Warrior has been redesigned. It now reduces the cost of Mortal Strike by 5 Rage.
This article was originally published in forum thread: WoW Down to 7.1 Million Subscribers started by chaud View original post
Comments 1310 Comments
  1. mmocf93185380c's Avatar
    That graph is amazing. Tells the whole story so far, and perhaps points towards the end.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Stupid post but..what does FX mean?
  1. Jester Joe's Avatar
    Hah, not even MoP lost that many so quickly, despite it "being so awful" like some people claim.
  1. Dezrow's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by urasim View Post
    Oh, sick, I guessed right about the sub loss.

    Sucks to be Blizzard, though. : /
    Lol how does it suck to be Blizzard? They have a game that has been around for over 10 years with millions of people paying monthly for it. they still have over 6 million players and thats nothing to sneeze at.
  1. Kaneiac's Avatar
    For those talking about the token, this does not include them.

    This is Q1 for 2015, the tokens are part of Q2.

    Even then, I'm still expecting Q2 to be even worse unless dramatic changes are made.
  1. Zanryu's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Adoxe View Post
    WoW tokens count as being subbed. They don't check who's buying WoW tokens and who isn't, they check what your account is flagged as, and if you would go and look at your account management page, It still says "Subscribed" even with WoW token active instead.
    I canceled my sub and bought gametime via ingame option to buy a token for gold when my time expires. My Account doesn't display any sub, only:
    Game Time
    WoW Token Game Time
    Expires: 5/28/2015 9:01 PM
  1. Vestig3's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Renegade View Post
    WoW is dying
    Lol someone just had to say it...
  1. mmoc8ded9ea3f2's Avatar
    Holy... Fuck

    Not entirely unexpected though. Hopefully will open devs eyes.
  1. Nize's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zanryu View Post
    The subs no longer count since everybody who is really into WoW get their gametime through gold -> WoW Token.
    XD! What? 20 dollars > 15 dollars. It's a profit.
  1. Banzhe's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ryme View Post
    Once again, wowcensus accurate. Shambles of an expansion, such a shame as it showed so much promise at the start.

    Personally, I blame the Garrison as the root of most of the issues for pve players.
    I don't and I'm one of the 2.9m that pulled the plug.., my main issue is the entire setup described as content a'la 4 difficulties and now coming to dungeons also.
    It isn't content, it doesn't get more interesting as you push Mythic, it does in fact just get 100% more repetitive and boring, no amount of items, mounts, titles or anything will ever make me return to the current setup of WoW as it stinks more than watching paint dry!

    Did I care about using my gold to buy game time?- Hell no, why would I, it isn't changing the overarching issue.
  1. mmoc8beae905aa's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zanryu View Post
    I canceled my sub and bought gametime via ingame option to buy a token for gold when my time expires. My Account doesn't display any sub, only:
    Game Time
    WoW Token Game Time
    Expires: 5/28/2015 9:01 PM
    If you have active Playtime you count as a Sub...
  1. amzraptor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Falrach View Post
    Looks like Garrisonville couldn't entertain people lang enough.
    Got 21 days on my account left, looks like I'm following the trend.
    Put people in a hamster ball and hang the #ForeverAlone flag... = Garrisonville
  1. SL1200's Avatar
    I say give us back our flying mounts. I hope the trend isn't reversed until they do.
  1. bryroo's Avatar
    So their plan seems to be to just let the game bleed out and to continue to find more ways to charge the people who keep playing.

    Expect to start seeing in game gold costs to shoot up to encourage players to purchase more tokens.

    Well. Good 10 year run.
  1. Sills's Avatar
    Not unexpected. The expansion really disappointed after launch. I've unsubbed for only the 2nd time since I've begun playing. Hopefully this makes them take a good long look in the mirror at what they've done and what they are planning to do in the future.
  1. Frozenbeef's Avatar
    Kinda deserved, timeless isle alone had more endgame than wod 6.0-6.1 combined >.<
  1. Azerox's Avatar
    Hahahahahahaha.

    Never thought I would say that on a topic like this before.

    Even i don't play it anymore. Time to step their game up.
  1. Nize's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by DAV_76 View Post
    That graph is amazing. Tells the whole story so far, and perhaps points towards the end.
    Lol, get real, man. They're still making a massive profit from this game and will for a long time. The end will come, but it'll be many many years. These numbers will have a diminishing return the lower it gets.
  1. gkai's Avatar
    Is anyone really surprised by the numbers? This is the most bland expansion to date. Why make the Garrsion a primary place to go? It's a RPG so losing the aspect of traveling and exploring puts a strong dampen on the game. WoD had high expectations and the hype to go with it only to drop the ball again. Son, I am disappoint.
  1. mmoc64d91a2d32's Avatar
    Does this take into account WoW Token?

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